Elizabeth of the Trinity

Elizabeth of the Trinity, O.C.D. was a French Discalced Carmelite nun, mystic and spiritual writer. She has been beatified by the Catholic Church.

Catez had a terrible temper as a child. After receiving her First Holy Communion in 1891 she became more controlled and had a deeper understanding of God and the world. She also gained a profound understanding of the Trinity. Elizabeth visited the sick and sang in the church choir. She taught religion to children who worked in factories.

Catez began to be interested in entering the Discalced Carmelites, although her mother was against the idea. Men had asked for Elizabeth's hand in marriage, but she declined, because her dream was to enter the Carmelite monastery that was located 200 meters from her home.

Elizabeth entered the Dijon Carmel on August 2, 1901. She said, "I find Him everywhere; while doing the wash as well as while praying."

At the end of her life, she began to call herself Laudem Gloriæ. Elizabeth had wanted to be called that in Heaven because it means "praise of glory". She said, "I think that in Heaven my mission will be to draw souls by helping them to go out of themselves in order to cling to God by a wholly simple and loving movement, and to keep them in this great silence within which will allow God to communicate Himself to them and to transform them into Himself."

Elizabeth died at the age of 26 from Addison's disease, which in the early 20th century had no treatment. Even though her death was painful, Elizabeth still accepted that God gave her that gift and was grateful. Her last words were, "I am going to Light, to Love, to Life!"

Elizabeth was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 25, 1984. Her feast day is celebrated on November 8. Her best-known prayer is "Holy Trinity Whom I Adore"[1] which she wrote out of her love of the Trinity. Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity is a patron of illness, sick people and loss of parents.

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[1]

O my God, Trinity whom I adore, let me entirely forget myself that I may abide in You, still and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity; let nothing disturb my peace nor separate me from You, O my unchanging God, but that each moment may take me further into the depths of Your mystery! Pacify my soul! Make it Your heaven, Your beloved home and place of Your repose; let me never leave You there alone, but may I be ever attentive, ever alert in my faith, ever adoring and all given up to Your creative action.

O my beloved Christ, crucified for love, would that I might be for You a spouse of Your heart! I would anoint You with glory, I would love You – even unto death! Yet I sense my frailty and ask You to adorn me with Yourself; identify my soul with all the movements of Your soul, submerge me, overwhelm me, substitute Yourself in me that my life may become but a reflection of Your life. Come into me as Adorer, Redeemer and Saviour.

O Eternal Word, Word of my God, would that I might spend my life listening to You, would that I might be fully receptive to learn all from You; in all darkness, all loneliness, all weakness, may I ever keep my eyes fixed on You and abide under Your great light; O my Beloved Star, fascinate me so that I may never be able to leave Your radiance.

O Consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, descend into my soul and make all in me as an incarnation of the Word, that I may be to Him a super-added humanity wherein He renews His mystery; and You O Father, bestow Yourself and bend down to Your little creature, seeing in her only Your beloved Son in whom You are well pleased.

O my `Three’, my All, my Beatitude, infinite Solitude, Immensity in whom I lose myself, I give myself to You as a prey to be consumed; enclose Yourself in me that I may be absorbed in You so as to contemplate in Your light the abyss of Your Splendour!